Mechanism for transmitting motion.



H. B. ROSS. MECHANISM FOR TRANSMITTING MOTION.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 23, 1910. 989,427.

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APPLICATION FILED MAY 23, 1910.

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H. B. ROSS.

MECHANISM FOR TRANSMITTING MOTION.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 23, 1910.

Patented Apr. 11, 1911.

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useful Improvements in Mechanism HARRY BEATJREGARD ROSS, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

MECHANISM FOR TRANSMITTINGMOTION.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that .l. HARRY lili.\t'ltlith\ltl) Ross. a citizen of the linited States. residing in the city and county of Denveand State of Colorado. have invented certain new and 'lransmitting Motion: and I do declare the following to be a full. clear. and exact description of the invention. such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon. which form a part of this specification.

-i\ly invention relates to improvements in mechanism for transmitting motion being more especially intended for use on automobiles or self-propelled vehicles. its object being to change the speed of the vehicle at will and without subjecting the transmission mechanism or other parts of the structure to injury by concussion or jar incident to the variation in speed.

In my improved construction provision is driving shaft and the driven shaft when it is desired to run the vehicle at the maximum speed of the driving shaft. It is preferred. however, to construct the mechanism so that the driven shaft is normally disconnected from the driving shaft but arranged to be manually connected therewith.

interposed between the driving shaft and the driven shaft. is a tamntershaft upon which is mounted a mnnber of concentric and eccentric gears alternately arranged and adapted to mesh with a gear slidably mount-- ed on the driven shaft. the latter being confor.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 23, 1910.

Patented Serial No. 562,819.

In my improved constructioi ranged upon the countershaft a main or master gear which is adapted to mesh with the gear upon the driven shaft when the latter is interlocked with the drivingshaft, or when the driving and driven shafts are in alinelnent. whetherinterlocked or not. On one side of this master gear. the eccentric 6 and concentric gears are arranged, while on the opposite side the eccentric and concentric collars are arranged, all of the gears and collars being fast on the countershaft.

Having briefly outlined my improved construction, I will proceed to describe the same in detail. reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In this drawing: Figure 1 is a vertical seetion taken through my improved transmission gear mechanism. the parts within being shown partly in elevation and partly in section. Fig. 2 is a section taken through the driven gear and its sleeve. shown in detail. Fig. 3 is an end ele ation of the gear case. showing the driving shaft in cross section. Fig. -t is a vertical cross section taken on the line -;L-4. Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken on the line 5-5, looking downwardly. Fig. (3 is an end view of the gears. the driven gear being shown in its three possible positions. the one in full lines and the other two in dotted lines.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate the gear case in which journaled one extremity of the driving shaft t3. the said shaft protruding into the gear case and equipped with a gear 7 secured to the shaft by a set bolt- 8 passing through a collar 9. On the opposite side of the gear 7 is a female clutch member 10 adapted to interlock with a counterpart male member 12 carried by a sleeve 13 splinedtiS upon one extremity of the driven shaft 14, whereby it is caused to rotate with the shaft but has suflicient sliding movement to cause it to interlock with the clutch member 10 without breaking its rotary relation with the driven shaft. The splined connection of the shaft 14 with the clutch sleeve 13 is indicated at 15. This clutch sleeve is also provided with a circumferential groove 16 into which extends one extremity of a leaf spring 17 secured by means of bolts 18 to a verti cally movable frame 19 arranged to carry the-driven shaft as it moves toward and away from the countershaft 20 during the operation of changing the speed of the machine. This movable frame 19 is reinforced as shown at 21 to form a bearing for the clutch sleeve 13; and also at 22 to form a suitable bearing for a portion 23 of the driven shaft.

Mounted on the driven shaft between the bearing extremities of the frame 19, is a gear 24 made fast to a sleeve 25 having a portion 26 angular in cross section to receive and fit a portion 27 of the driven shaft. The remainder of the interior of the sleeve 25 is cylindri all as shown at 28, so that by shifting the gear 24 and its sleeve to the dotted line position in Fig. 1, the clutch members 1.0 and 12 are caused to interlock. The gear 24-is loose on the driven shaft, ni'otion being connn'a'nicatcd directly to the latter from the.

driving shaft by virtue of the interlocking of the clutch members. 7

An arm 29 connected with a loose sleeve 30, is forked as shown at 31 to straddle the sleeve 25 ofthe gear 2 1, this forked portion of the arm engaging a groove 32 between the gear anda collar with which the sleeve 25 is provided. This sleeve 25 enters a counterpartbore 34 formed in one extremity of a sleeve 35, the sleeves 25 and 35 being connected to move longitudinally of the shaft 24 in unison, by means of bolts threaded in the sleeve and entering a circun'iferential groove 37 formed in the sleeve 25, thus allowing the sleeve 25 to turn with its gear 2t without rotating the sleeve 35. This sleeve 35, as illustrated in the drawing, is formed integral with a yoke 38 which extends outwardly in opposite directions as shown at 39. From the outer extremities of the parts 3-39 parallel arms 40 and 4:1, extendupwardly, their upper extremities being connected by a cross bar 42, whose cxti'en'lities are perforated to register with perforations formed in cars -13 projecting outwardly from and integral with the arms 40 and 41. The upper portions of rods t l pass through the registering openings in the cross ba and the lugs 4-3,

the said rods being threaded to receive nuts 45. The lower portions 46 of the rods 4-4 slide freely in openings formed in lugs 47 located at the outer extremities of the yokearms 39. -Mounted on these rods and interposed between the lugs 43 and stop-collars 4,8 adjustably mounted on the rods are plained in detail. As illustrated in the drawing, the upwardly projecting member 41 of the yoke is vertically slotted as shown at- 50 to receive a stationary guide-bar 51 carried by the casing.

The frame 19 is vertically movable in elongated openings .)2 formed in one end M of the gear case and a partition or web 53 interposedbetween the extremities of the said case, The slidable members 55 and 56 of the vertically movable frame are equipped with plates 57 and 58, the said plates being secured by screws59. These plates serve to maintain the parts and 56 in operative engagement with the openings of the case, preventing any endwise move ment in the direction of the axis of the driven shaft.

Mounted on and made fast to the countershaft 20 is a master gear 60 whose cogged periphery is somewhat more than twice the width of the corresponding periphery of the gear 24; so that the master gear is always in mesh with the gear 24 whether the driven shaft is actuated directly fromrthe driving shaft, as when the parts are. in the dotted line position (see Fig. 1), or indirectly from the countershaft when. the clutch members 10 and 12 are disconnected, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1.

On one side of the master gear. being that toward the yoke 88, a. number of concentric and eccentric collars are located, the coir centric collars being designated 61 and 62, and the eccentric collars ()3 and 6-1. The eocentric collar 64: has a maximum radius equal to that of the concentric collar 62, whereby these two collars are tangential to a common plane atone point; while the ec centric collar (33 has a maximum radius equal-to the radius of the concentric collar 1 and a minimum radius equal to that of the concentric collar 62. whereby the collars 62 and G3 are tangential to the same plane at a common point, while the collars til ard 33 are also tangential to tt'Q'lVCJl plane at a common point. ()u the' opposite side ot inc mastengear is located a number of em antric and concentric gears equal to the collars just dc -cribed, the eccentric gears being designated The eccentric goal-G5 which is contiguous to the. master gear has a maximum 'adius equal to that of thcmastcr gear and a minimum radius equal to that of the concentric gear ()7 to which it is also contiguous, the gear (it being interposed between the twogears (i0 and (37. Hence the gears 60 and 65 are taugential to a given plane at a single common point: while the gears 65 and 67 are also tangential to a, common plane at a single point. Furthermore, the eccentric gear 66 has a maximum radius equal to the radius of the com'entrie 67 and a minimum radius equal to that of the concentric gear (58.

'63 and G6 and the concentric gears 67 and GS,

manipulating this lever the forked arm anay'be moved back and forth whereby a The gear 66 is contiguous with the gears 67 and 63, being interposed between them; and by virtue of the relation heretofore described, itis evident that the gears 66 and 62' havela common point tangential to a given plane, while this is also true of the gears 66 and 68, the two said points, however, being located diametrically opposite.

Referring agaiiito-the forked arm 29 for shifting the gear 2 1 on the driven shaft, attention is called to the fact that the sleeve 30 upon which the arm 29 is fast, interposed between two collars 69 and 70, the said collars being secured to a shaft 71 which is longitudinally slidable in the gear case, the latter having openings 72 and T3 for the purpose. The case is reinforced as shown at T4 around the openings T2, to give the shaftfll a better bearin The shaft 71 protrudes beyond the gear case as shown at 75 and its protruding extremit is pivotally connected, as shown at 76, with the lower extremity of an operating lever 77 fulcruined at 78 above its connection with the shaft. It is evident that by .29

corresponding movement is imparted to the gear 24, its sleeve 25 and the yoke 38.

If" we assume that the gear 24 and the clutch member 12 are in the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, whereby the driving and driven shafts are directly interlocked, the gear 24 will be loose on the driven shaft and while it will rotate, since it is still in mesh with the master gear (30, it

' performs no function in the transmission of speed or power, since the latter is directly transmitted, the driven shaft in this event having the same speed as the driving shaft. Now if it is desired to reduce this speed. the clutch member 12 will be disconnected from its companion member 10, by the action of the spring 17, which is intended to perform this function. In .order that the rest of the mechanism may be in harmony with the arrangement inst explained, it will of course be necessary to forcibly maintain the clutch member 12 in engagement with its companion member 10 when it is desired that the maximum speed of the driving shaft be transmitted to the driven shaft. This, however, a detail of construction which it is not thought necessary to illustrate, since it. could be accomplished by any ordinary pro: vision for retaining the operating lever 77 in the proper position of adjustment. Now, assuming that the clutch members are disconnected, and that the gear 24 in thepo sition shown by full lines in Fig.1, itthe driving shatt is in motion, speed will be transmitted to the driven shaft through the instrumentality oi two meshing geais T and 80, the one being on the driven shaft and the other on the counter-shaft; togetheewith the master gear 60 as the two gears T and 80 are of the same diameter, the speed of the driving and counter shafts would be the same, but as the master gear is of less iianieter than that of the gear 24, the speed of the driven shaft will be somewhat less than that of the driving shaft. Again, if it is desired to further reduce the speed of the driven shaft, the gear 24-, together with its sleeve 25 and the yoke 38, may be shifted by the use of the lever 7 whereby the gear 24 is caused to mesh with the eccentric gear (35, in which event the cross bar 42 of the yoke will engage the eccentric collar 64, since the miniinum radius of this eccentric gear. is the radius of the countershaft; The cross bar 42, however, will be prevented from further movement by virtue of its engagement with the eccentric collar 62, until the countershaft has rotated siiiliciently to bring the maximum line of eccentricity of the collar (34 uppermost. llence, the gear 24 will be prevented from moving out of. mesh with the eccentric gear 5 during the same time or until the countersliaft is rotated sufficiently to bring the portion of the eccentric gear (3.) nearest the center of the shaft into mesh with the gear l-t. Now as the countershaft continues to rotate. the eccentric collar 4 acting on the cross bar 42 of the yolte, will draw the driven shaft toward the countersha't't, and when the part of the collar farthest from the axis of the countershaft is in engagement with the cross bar of the yoke. the said. bar will be in position to move into engagement with the concentric collar (32, whereby the gear 24- is allowed to engage the concentric gear (37, the one gear slipping into mesh with the other at the point where both gears have the same radius. being the minimum radius of the eccentric gear.

To further reduce the speed of the driven shaft. the lever 77 may be actuated to shift the gear 24 out of mesh with the concentric gear 7 and into m sh with the eccentric. gear tilt, at the point where these two gears are tangential to the same plane, but the gear '24 cannot be shifted until this relation between the gears (at and (ii occurs, since in the meantime the eccentric collai' 3 will stop the cross bar 42 from movement, until the portion of the collar (32; nearest the center of the countershat't is uppermost. in which event it lies in the same plane with the lowersurfacc of the cross bar 42 which'is in engagementwith the concentric collar (32. {it will be noted that the gears and collars are so arranged on the shaft 20 that when the portions of'the collars lying in the same plane are uppermost, whereby the cross bar is allowed to slide from one to the other, the corresponding portions of the gears are lowermost, whereby the gear :24 allowed to slide freely from one to the other. Now as soon as the point of minimum eccentricity of the gear 63 is uppermost, the yoke 42 will slide freely in response to the movement of the lever 77 from the concentric collar 62 to the cocentric collar 63. The bar a2, however, cannot move any farther until it has been lifted 'by the eccentric collar 63 to its maximum tric gear 68, the movement of the gear 64' from the meshing relation of the one gear into that of the other gear being in the same plane. It will be understood that after reducing the speed of the driven shaft to the minimum, it may be gradually changed back to the maximum by reversing the movement of the lever T7 and the movement of the other parts of the mechanism, all of which operations will be readily understood without detailed explanation.

By reason of the fact that I employ the collars 61 and 62, 63 and (Sat, it becomes practicable to properly space the shafts H and 20, to cause the gear 24 on the driven shaft and the gears on the counter shaft to properly mesh with each other, that is to say, so that the pitch lines of the two meshing gears shall be exactly tangential to each other. This is an important feature in a construction of this class, since it completely prevents any grinding of the gears and undue wearthereon. It also causes the gears to run noiselessly.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1. In means for transmitting motion, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, an interposed countershaft, a constant speed gearing connection between the driving and counter shafts, and a changeable speed-gearing connection between the countel-shaft and the driven shaft, consisting of a number of eccentric and concentric gears alternately arranged on the counter-shaft, and, a concentric gear on the driven shaft, substantially as described.

2. In means for transmitting motion, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, an interposed countershaft, a direct clutch-connection between the driving and driven shafts, a gearing connection between the driving and counter-shafts, and a changeable speed earing connection between the counter and driven shafts, consisting of alternately arranged eccentric and concentric gears mounted on the countershaft, and

a movably mounted and cooperating gear mounted on the driven shaft.

3. In means for transmitting motion, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, and an interposed countershaft, the driving and driven shafts being in alinement, clutch mechanism for directly connecting the driving and driven shafts for imparting the maximum speed to the driven 'shaft, a gearing connection between the driving shaft and the countershaft, and a changeable speed gearing connection be-- tween the counter and driven shafts, consisting of a plurality of eccentric and concentric gears alternately arranged 'on the counter-shaft, and a concentric gear on the driven shaft.

4. In means for transmitting motion, the combination with a driving shaft, a driven shaft, an interposed countershaft, the driving and driven shafts king in alinement, clutch-mechanism directly connecting the driving and driven shafts, to' impart to the latter the maximum speed, a gearing connection between the driving and counter shafts, changeable speed-gearing mechanism consisting of alternately arranged concentric and eccentric gears mounted on the countershaft, and a cooperating-gear mounted on the driven shaft.

5. In means for transmitting motion, the combination of a driving'shaft, a driven shaft and a counter shaft, the driving and driven shafts being in axial alinement, a detachable clutch-connection between the driving and driven shafts for maximum speed, a constant gearing connection between the driving and counter shafts, and a changeable speed gearing connection between the counter and driven shafts, con sisting of a number of eccentric and concentric gears, alternately arranged on the countershaft and a concentric cooperating gear' on the driven shaft.

6. The combination of a driving shaft, a, driven shaft, an interposed counter shaft, a constant speed-gearing connection between the driving and counter shafts, and a changeable' speed-gearing connection between' the counter and driving shafts, including a, numb'erof eccentric and concentric gears alternately arranged on the countershaft, and a concentric gear on the driven shaft, the lat ter being movable toward and away from the counter shaft, and an operative connection between the driven and counter shafts.

7. The combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, an interposed counter shaft, a

constant speed-gearing connection between the driving and counter shafts, and a changeable speed-gearing' connection between the counter and driven shafts, including a number of eccentric and concentric gears alternately arranged on the counter shaft,

and concentric gear on the drivenshaft, the. latter being movable toward and away from the: counter shaft, a yoke driven shaft, an interposed counter shaft,

connecting the driven and counter shafts and having a bar normally engaging the counter shaft, the yoke and the gear on the driven shaft being slidable on the driven shaft, eccentric and concentric collars also of varying diameters arranged alternately on the counter shaft for regulating the travel of the gear in a longitudinal direction on the driven shaft.

8. The combination of a driving shaft, a

a constant speed-gearing connection between the driving and counter shafts, and a changeable speedgearing connection between the counter and driven shafts, including a number of eccentric and concentric gears alternately arrangedonthe counter shaft, and a concentric gear slidably mounted on the driven shaft, whereby it may be brought sucessively into mesh with all the gears of the counter shaft.

9. The combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, an interposed countershaft, a constant speed-gearing connection between the driving and counter shafts, and a change able speed-gearing connection between the counter and driven shafts, includinga number of eccentric and concentric gears, alternately arranged on the countershaft, the

eccentric gear between any two concentric gears having its maximum radius equal to the radius of the concentric gear on one side, while its minimum radius is equal to that of the concentric gear on the other side, and a concentric gear on the driven shaft, the latter being movable toward and away from the counter shaft, and the gear on the driven shaft being slidably mounted, whereby it may be brought successively into mesh with all the gears on the counter-shaft.

it). The combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, an interposed counter shaft, a number of gears of varying dian'icter fast on the counter shaft, the said gears comprising concentric gears and interposed eccentric gears, the maximum radius of an eccentric gear being the same as the radius of the concentric gear on one side, while the minimum radius is the same as the radius of the concentric gear on the other side, the counter shaft also being equipped with a number of eccentric and concentric collars corrcspoiuling with the munbcr of gears, a yoke connecting the driven and counter shafts and having a bar engaging the counter shaft, the concentric collars being inlciposcd between the eccentric collars, the radius of each roucentric collar being equal to the maximum radius of the eccentric collar on one side and the minimum radius of the eccentric collar on the other side, the minimum radius of the smallest eccentric collar being equal lo that of the radius of the shaft, a concentric gear slidablv mounted on the driven shaft, one

r of the lwo shafts cqnnected by the yoke be ing movable toward and away from ,the other shaft in order to bring the gear of the driven shaft successively into mesh \vitqaiall of the gears of the counter shaft. v

11. In means for transmitting motion, the combination of a driving shaft, a dri en shaft, an interposed counter shaft, a ch11; stunt speed-gearing connection between ihk driving and counter shafts, a changeable speed-gearing connection between the counter and driven shafts, including a number of concentric and eccentric gears mounted on the counter shaft, the eccentric gears being interposed between the concentric gears, the maximum radius of any eccentric gear being equal to the radius of the larger adjacent concentric gear, while the minimum radius of any eccentric gear is equal to the radius of the smaller adjacent eoncentiuc gear, a. concentric gear mounted on the driven shaft, a yoke connecting the driving and driven shafts, the yoke and gear being mounted to slide in unison on the driven shaft, whereby the gear on the last named shaft is adapted to be brought into mesh successively with all the gears of the counter shaft, the counter shaft also having eccentric and concentric collars of varying diameter, and alternately arranged, the yoke being arranged to successively ch nge the said collars simultaneously with the successive engagement of the gear on the driven shaft with the gears of the counter shaft, the engagement of the yoke, however, with the said collars bciug in the reverse order.

12. The combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, an interposed counter shaft, a constant speed-gearing connection between the driving and couulcr shafts, and a changeable spccdgearizug connection between the counter and driven shafts, one ol the last' named shafts bein adapted to move toward.

and away from the other. the said speedgearing connection comprising a master concentric gcar fast on the counter shaft, a concentric gear slidahly mounted on the driven shaft, and having its coggcd pcrip'hm'y of less \vidlh than that of the master gear with which it meshes, there being a number of other concentric gears ol varying diameter, and eccentric gears interposed between the concentric gears, cuch eccentric gear having its maximum radius equal to the radius of the larger adjacent concentric gear, and its minimum radius equal lo the radius of the smaller :uljaccnt concentric gear, there being a number of eccentric and concentric collars mounted on the counter shaft, the larger conccnlric collar being adjacent the master gear, the radius of the largest concentric collar being equal to lhemaximum radius of [he adiaccul' eccentric collar, while the minimum radius of the largest. eccentric collar is equal to the radius of the smaller adjacent conceulric collar, the smallest cccculric collar having its maximum radius equal. to gears on the counter shaft, substantially as 1 the radius of the adjacent concentric collar, described.

While its minimum radius is equal to that'of In testimony whereof I affix my signature Elbe counte shalfhla yoke :lidable don the in presence of two witnesses.

riven sha t witi t 1e gear 0 the sai sha' t,

the said yoke connecting the driven and HARRY BEAUREGARD ROSS counter shafts and successively engaging the Witnesses:

eccentric and concentric collars as the gear VIRGINIA I. DAVIS,

on the driven shaft successively engages the ELIZABETH BOWEN; 

